An updated look at the top 50 biggest media companies in the UK reveals that traditional news publishers continue to face stiff competition in the news and information space. Press Gazette ranks media companies by revenue and focuses on those operating in the news and information space.
You can view Press Gazette’s 2022 biggest media companies in the UK ranking here.
The threat from big tech
While Press Gazette does not include US giants Google and Facebook on our list of UK media companies, they both would easily make the top ten if we did. Google’s UK advertising revenue alone would likely put it in first position on our list and Facebook’s £2.5bn UK ad revenue would put it in fifth position, per News Media Association figures.
Search advertising, dominated by Google, was worth £13.1bn in the UK in 2022 according to AA/Warc – 14 times more than the £937m earned by news and magazine brands from online advertising in the same period. Google and Meta’s collective global earnings are bigger than the combined revenue of all the companies on our list.
Data and information companies are challengers to B2B publishers
At the top of our table for the second year in a row is information and analytics giant RELX, formerly known as Reed Elsevier, while Informa is ranked five, climbing one place since our 2022 ranking and displacing Murdoch’s News UK into sixth position. Informa’s acquisition of US trade publisher Industry Dive helped to boost its position as a specialist information provider and contributed to its revenue of £2.3 billion, up from £1.58 billion in 2021.
Delinian, formerly known as Euromoney Institutional Investor, ranked 14, and Euromonitor, ranked 30, are two other British information companies that rank highly.
Legacy names hold their own
Our ranking, which focuses on companies either established or headquartered in the UK, shows that the news and media landscape is changing fast. Several British legacy names, however, make a strong showing with broadcasters faring particularly well.
Despite a decline of 12% in full-year revenue in 2022 compared to 2021, Sky, which is currently owned by US telecommunications behemoth Comcast, maintains its fourth-place rank.
ITV recorded a fall in profitability, despite a rise, in revenue due to investment in content and its ITVX online hub. The broadcaster came in third with £3.7bn.
Public service broadcaster Channel 4 was in eighth place, unchanged from 2022.
Looking beyond the broadcasters, News UK fell out of the top five and Reach fell from ten to 11. Last year Reach reported reduced revenue of £601m, which the company put down to a slowdown in advertising demand.
Future, one of the UK’s biggest specialist publishers, entered our top ten in 2023 as it saw revenue up 36% year-on-year to £825.4m and profit up 39%, driven by acquisitions including Dennis Publishing.
The UK 50: Britain’s biggest news media companies
The last time we drew up this list in August 2022, the 50 ranked companies together totalled £47.8bn in revenue, with roughly £33.7bn revenue for their news, media and information activities. (Given that not all companies break out revenue the same way, the figures for news, media and information should be treated as a guide.)
In the latest ranking, the 50 companies on our list made £49.3bn in revenue, with £37.4bn for news, media and information. Some reporting periods covered the second half of 2021 and early 2022 when some companies started bouncing back after three national lockdowns. Other reports, however, cover the whole of 2022, taking into account the increasingly challenging economic conditions.
All but one of the 50 companies on our 2022 list appear again in 2023. For the first time, we have a figure for travel publisher Ink Global that brings it onto our 2023 list in 38th place. Agribriefing, which was ranked 48th in 2022, meanwhile, is excluded as the food sector specialist was bought by commodity price intelligence company Mintec earlier this year.
Read on to see our full list of the top 50 news media companies in the UK (with an at-a-glance table at the end). Note: If you think there are any companies that should be on this list, or if you would like to suggest any other improvements, please email aisha.majid@ns-mediagroup.com.
1. RELX
Top news/information brands: Lexis Nexis, Science Direct, Estates Gazette
Total revenues: £8.6bn
News/information/media revenues: £8.6bn
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £7.2bn; News/information/media revenues: £7.2bn
Formerly known as Reed Elsevier, RELX has transformed itself into a leading player in information and analytics with a well-known stable of legal and scientific brands. The company has weathered the pandemic well as demand for its data products has remained steady. Its events company, RX Exhibitions, was hit during Covid-19 but has since bounced back.
Its publishing division, Reed Business Information, sold New Scientist in 2017 and Farmers Weekly to Mark Allen Group in 2020.
2. BBC
Top news/information brands: BBC News, BBC Studios, regional channels across the UK, various other big-name shows
Total revenues: £5.7bn
News/information/media revenues: £5.7bn
Source: Full-year results to April 2023
Previous annual revenue:: Total revenues: £5.1bn; News/information/media revenues: £5.1bn
The BBC has had a tumultuous year, having been at the centre of more than one controversy. It is one of the best-known entertainment names in the UK. It is also the country’s biggest news provider, reaching over 75% of people aged over 16 – although its reach among younger audiences has been falling. A 2023 Ofcom report found that while the BBC was still the preferred news source for teens, its reach had fallen by 12 percentage points to 39% since 2020.
The majority of the publicly-owned broadcaster’s income comes from the licence fee paid by the British public, the rate of which the government decided to freeze for two years in January 2022.
3. ITV
Top news/information brands: ITV, Good Morning Britain
Total revenues: £3.7bn
News/information/media revenues: £3.7bn
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £3.5bn; News/information/media revenues: £3.5bn
Despite an uptick in revenue, profitability at Britain’s oldest commercial TV network was down in 2023, in part due to heavy investment in content and its new streaming service, ITVX. Launched in December last year as a replacement for its catch-up service ITV Hub, the service is the first to have news as a central pillar and features a special news section with both repurposed ITV News content and bespoke video packages.
ITV is best known for its entertainment programming but it also has some of the most popular and trusted news brands in the UK. It owns a 40% stake in ITN, which makes ITV News and Channel 4 News.
Previous annual revenue:: Total revenues: £3.5bn; News/information/media revenues: £3.5bn
4. Sky
Top news/information brands: Sky News, Sky Sports, Sky Atlantic
Total revenues: £14.1bn ($17.9bn)
News/information/media revenues: £2.6bn ($3.3bn)
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous report: Total revenues: £17bn; News/information/media revenues: £3.2bn
Formed as British Sky Broadcasting in the 1990s by Rupert Murdoch, Sky has since transformed itself into one of the biggest players on the UK media scene. The company is currently facing difficult times having seen a large slump in revenue, with parent company Comcast writing off $8.6bn (£7.4bn) – a quarter of the company’s value – four years after winning a bidding war with Disney and Fox.
The broadcaster and telecommunications company is still the UK’s largest pay-TV broadcaster and its free-to-air news channel, Sky News, is the UK’s most-watched commercial channel.
Note: News/information/media revenues include revenues from advertising and content.
5. Informa
Top news/information brands: CRC Press, Informa Markets, Taylor & Francis
Total revenues: £2.3bn
News/information/media revenues: £2.3bn
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £1.8bn; News/information/media revenues: £1.8bn
In 2022, UK information powerhouse Informa acquired Industry Dive, a US business media company that publishes specialist newsletters spanning 24 industries, for £323m. Informa said the purchase would enhance growth, margin and earnings in its B2B digital services division. The deal seems to have paid off as Informa’s revenue was up 31% year-on-year in 2022 while operating profit grew from £313m to just under £500m.
The company also has a large events and digital services and academic knowledge business. In August, it sold Lloyd’s List, which may be the oldest B2B brand in the world.
6. News UK
Top news/information brands: The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times, Talksport, Talkradio, TalkTV
Total revenues: £1.9bn ($2.4bn, News Corp global news media segment revenue)
News/information/media revenues: £1.9bn
Source: Full-year results to June 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £2bn; News/information/media revenues: £2bn
Part of News Corp, one of the biggest media operations in the world, News UK has been one of the major forces in UK media for decades.
Since News Corp does not provide a separate revenue figure for its UK business, the figure given here is the global revenue for its news media segments and also includes its Australian business, the New York Post and Storyful.
Based on accounts published on Companies House, The Sun publisher, News Group Newspapers, turned over £320.5m in 2022 – a slight increase from 2021 – as it noted that its digital investment was paying off. Legal fees and damages linked to the ongoing phone-hacking cases, however, meant that the News UK subsidiary reported losses twice the size as in 2021. Times Media, publisher of The Times and The Sunday Times, reported revenues of £373.4m in the year to 3 July 2022, up 14% on the year before as well as a profit of £73.2m.
Note: Revenue for News Corp’s news media segment consists primarily of News Corp Australia, News UK, New York Post, Wireless Group and Storyful.
7. Bauer Media Group UK
Top news/information brands: Grazia, Empire, Absolute Radio brands
Total revenues: £1.9bn (€2.2bn, parent company global revenue)
News/information/media revenues: £1.9bn
Source: Bauer ‘facts and figures
Private German media conglomerate Bauer Media is one of the biggest media companies in the world. Its UK operation publishes many household magazine names such as Closer, Grazia and Bella and also owns and operates radio stations. In the latest RAJAR results, Bauer Media Audio UK reported it had seen a record 22.8 million reach across its stations, which the company has put down to the recent hiring of longstanding BBC Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce to Greatest Hits Radio.
Revenue for Bauer UK is not in the public domain, so we have quoted the global figure. UK revenue, while significant, would be lower than this since the family-owned company also has large operations across Europe, Australia and the US.
Previous annual revenue: Unchanged
8. Channel 4
Top news/information brands: Channel 4 News, Film 4, E4
Total revenues: £1.1bn
News/information/media revenues: £1.1bn
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £934m; News/information/media revenues: £934m
Like ITV, Channel 4 is known for its entertainment programming which includes a large portfolio of TV comedies and dramas. The channel is, however, well-regarded for its news and factual programming that includes the ITN-produced Channel 4 News and investigative series Dispatches. Channel 4 News received a BAFTA in 2023 for its coverage of the Ukraine War.
9. DMGT
Top news/information brands: Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Online, The i, Metro
Total revenues: £974m
News/information/media revenues: £974m
Source: Full-year results to September 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £885m; News/information/media revenues: £885m
DMGT, founded in 1896, was taken private after being acquired by the founder’s great-grandson, Lord Rothermere, last year. The company owns consumer brands including the Daily Mail, Metro, The i and New Scientist and has recently been touted as a potential buyer of Telegraph Media Group. Earlier this year, the company also invested in children’s publisher What on Earth Magazines, which publishes Britannica’s What on Earth! Magazine for six- to 14-year-olds.
Unlike many other large newspaper companies in the UK, DMGT also has a large B2B business and holds investments in a diverse range of other businesses. After building up its publishing portfolio through several acquisitions in recent years, the company slimmed down in 2021, disposing of its insurance risk and EdTech businesses.
10. Future
Top news/information brands: Tom’s Guide, Go Compare, Marie Claire, Homes and Gardens
Total revenues: £825.4m
News/information/media revenues: £825.4m
Source: Full-year results to September 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £606.8m; News/information/media revenues: £606.8m
Magazine publisher Future jumps one place in our ranking to enter the top ten in 2023. The company has grown through a series of acquisitions and is one of the UK’s biggest specialist media companies. This year, the company reported revenues that were up 36% year-on-year and profit up 39%, under new CEO Jon Steinberg who in February replaced Zillah Byng-Thorne, credited with turning the company around.
Future’s titles include special interest brands such as Tom’s Guide, Tech Radar and Homes and Gardens. In 2021 the company bought the owner of the comparison website Go Compare, Goco and the publisher of The Week, Dennis.
11. Reach
Top news/information brands: Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo
Total revenues: £601.4m
News/information/media revenues: £601.4m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £615.8m; News/information/media revenues: £615.8m
It seems that 2022 was a difficult year for Reach, the UK’s largest commercial publisher of a number of titles and owner of some 200 print and digital brands including the Mirror, the Daily Star, the Daily Express and the Manchester Evening News. Revenue was down 2.3% year-on-year to £601.4m while operating profit fell 27.4% to £106.1m. The company has cited a sharp rise in print costs and falling yield from programmatic advertising as key contributory factors.
12. Ascential
Top news/information brands: Retail Week, WARC
Total revenues: £524.4m
News/information/media revenues: £524.4m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £349.3m; News/information/media revenues: £244.5m
Formerly known as Emap and Top Right Group, business publisher, information and events company Ascential reported record turnover in 2022 and has jumped ten places in our ranking seeing a 30% surge year-on-year. In 2017, Ascential sold off its heritage business titles including Nursing Times, Drapers and Architects’ Journal.
13. Auto Trader Group
Top news/information brands: Autotrader, Autotrader.com
Total revenues: £432.7m
News/information/media revenues: £432.7m
Source: Full-year results to December 2022
Previous annual revenue: unchanged
The well-known car classifieds magazine was set up in the 1970s after its founder brought the idea over from the US. Since then, Auto Trader Group has transformed itself into a successful digital marketplace for the auto sector. The site also publishes car reviews and buying advice.
14. Delinian (Euromoney Institutional Investor)
Top news/information brands: Euromoney, Institutional Investor, Fastmarkets brands
Total revenues: £425.1m
News/information/media revenues: £425.1m
Source: Full-year results to September 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £336.1m; News/information/media revenues: £336.1m
B2B business and financial information publisher and events company Euromoney Institutional Investor was taken over for £1.7bn by a private equity consortium in 2022 and has since rebranded as Delinian. Until 2019, Euromoney was 49% owned by DMGT.
15. Global
Top news/information brands: LBC, Capital, Heart, Classic FM
Total revenues: £689.9m
News/information/media revenues: £391.1m
Source: Full-year results to March 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £434.1m; News/information/media revenues: £314.1m
A series of acquisitions over recent years have brought stations including Capital, Heart, LBC and Classic FM into Global’s portfolio, making it Europe’s largest commercial radio company. In 2022, the company brought on board two of the BBC’s biggest names in news, Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, in a reported big-money deal. This summer, LBC signed up Natasha Clark from The Sun as its new political editor.
As well as commercial radio, Global also operates an outdoor advertising business. The company jumps two places in our 2023 ranking.
16. Acuris
Top news/information brands: Merger Market, Debtwire
Total revenues: £390.2m ($496.4m)
News/information/media revenues: £390.2m
Source: Full-year results for 2021
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £231.6m; News/information/media revenues: £231.6m
B2B financial news and data company Acuris specialises in information, software, analytics and news focused on financial products, compliance and mergers and acquisitions. It was previously known as Merger Market and was at the time owned by the Financial Times Group which sold the company to a private equity firm in 2013.
17. ZPG
Top news/information brands: Zoopla, Money.co.uk, Uswitch
Total revenues: £387.7m
News/information/media revenues: £387.7m
Source: Full-year results to September 2021
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £285.9m; News/information/media revenues: £285.9m
Zoopla owner ZPG is part real estate company and part online publisher. In 2009, Zoopla acquired the property website Thinkproperty.com from the Guardian Media Group and the Property Finder website from News International. In 2018, ZPG was sold to US private equity firm Silverlake in a £2.2bn deal, netting £640m for ZPG’s largest investor, DMGT.
18. Economist Group
Top news/information brands: The Economist, 1843, Economist Intelligence Unit
Total revenues: £376.8m
News/information/media revenues: £376.8m
Source: Full-year results to March 2023
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £346m; News/information/media revenues: £346m
Current affairs, politics and business magazine The Economist and its associated digital offerings are the Economist Group’s flagship products. In 2022, The Economist reported 1,185,000 digital subscriptions, including 616,000 digital-only subscriptions, as the company noted 66% of new subscriber sign-ups in 2022 were digital-only.
19. Financial Times
Top news/information brands: Financial Times, ft.com, Sifted.eu
Total revenues: £369.5m
News/information/media revenues: £369.5m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £319.8m; News/information/media revenues: £319.8m
Owned by private Japanese company Nikkei, the FT’s UK-registered company Financial Times Ltd reported a strong “rebound” from Covid-19 in 2021, growing revenues by 16% and reporting a profit of £4.3m. In 2020, the company reported a loss before tax of £29m in 2020 which it put down to Covid-19’s hit to business.
The UK accounts do not, however, show consolidated earnings for the global business as the FT says it generates a large proportion of its revenue overseas. The Financial Times topped one million digital subscribers in 2022.
20. Rightmove
Top news/information brands: Rightmove.com
Total revenues: £332.6m
News/information/media revenues: £332.6m
Source: Full-year results to December 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £304.9m; News/information/media revenues: £304.9m
The company operates Rightmove.co.uk, the UK’s biggest online property portal. The company generates income by listing estate agents on its website and charging for advertising.
21. Moneysupermarket.com Group
Top news/information brands: Moneysupermarket.com, Travel Supermarket, Money Saving Expert
Total revenues: £387.6m
News/information/media revenues: £330m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £344.9m; News/information/media revenues: £344.9m
Having started life in the 1980s as a mortgage subscription business, the advent of the web caused the company to evolve into a personal loan and credit card price comparison site. In 2012, the company acquired financial journalist Martin Lewis’ consumer finance site, Moneysupermarket. Despite a closed energy switching market, revenue grew 22% in 2022 (8% excluding cashback).
Note: News/information/media revenues exclude revenue from cashback.
22. Guardian Media Group
Top news/information brands: The Guardian, The Observer, theguardian.com
Total revenues: £264.4m
News/information/media revenues: £264.4m
Source: Full-year results to April 2023
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £225.8m; News/information/media revenues: £225.8m
The Guardian, the group’s flagship brand, crossed the one million digital subscriber threshold in late 2022. International revenue grew particularly strongly in the year to April 2023 (up 17% to £93.2m) and now accounts for 35% of revenues overall, while digital reader revenue grew 7.6% to make up 70% of total revenue.
Founded in 1821 as the Manchester Guardian, over half of the Guardian’s recurring digital supporters are based outside the UK, and the brand has an especially strong presence in Australia, Europe and the US.
23. Telegraph Media Group
Top news/information brands: The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, telegraph.co.uk
Total revenues: £254m
News/information/media revenues: £254m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £245m; News/information/media revenues: £245m
Telegraph Media Group has reported an increase in profit of 32% in 2022 and said it is on course to hit one million subscribers by the end of 2023. Despite its profitability, the company is still looking for a buyer after being effectively repossessed by Lloyds Banking Group from its Bermuda-based parent company, owned by the billionaire Barclay family.
This March, TMG, which publishes two of the UK’s best-known upmarket papers, the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph, acquired the Chelsea Magazine company which publishes The English Home and The English Garden.
24. Global Data
Top news/information brands: Proprietary data across a range of vertical industries including pharmaceuticals, technology and financial services.
Total revenues: £243.2m
News/information/media revenues: £243.2m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £189.3m; News/information/media revenues: £189.3m
Global Data sells proprietary data across a range of vertical industries including pharmaceuticals, technology and financial services. Its main business is selling access to its intelligence centre news and information products. Owner Mike Danson also separately owns the New Statesman Media Group, which publishes Press Gazette.
25. You Gov
Top news/information brands: You Gov
Total revenues: £221.1m
News/information/media revenues: £221.1m
Source: Full-year results to July 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £169m; News/information/media revenues: £169m
Market research and opinion polling company You Gov is probably best known for its political polls in the run-up to elections. The consumer intelligence company, which was co-founded by current chancellor Nadhim Zahawi in 2000, however, covers many more beats, from animal rights to media to football.
26. Immediate Media Company
Top news/information brands: BBC Good Food magazine, Match of the Day magazine, Radio Times, Top Gear magazine
Total revenues: £192.4m
News/information/media revenues: £192.4m
Source: Full-year results for 2021
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £197.8m; News/information/media revenues: £197.8m
Ultimately owned by German media giant Hubert Burda, Immediate is best known for its magazine and special interest brands.
27. DC Thomson
Top news/information brands: Press and Journal, Beano, Stylist, Dundee Courier
Total revenues: £174.1m
News/information/media revenues: £174.1m
Source: Full-year results to March 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £160.2m; News/information/media revenues: £160.2m
DC Thomson publishes a number of Scottish newspapers and websites including Press and Journal, The Dundee Courier and The Sunday Post. It is also the publisher of the longstanding comic The Beano and owns the genealogy website Find My Past.
Despite a 7.3% rise in revenue in the year to March 2022, a result of post-lockdown recovery, the company made an after-tax loss. The company said it saw major boosts to its events, advertising, radio and genealogy revenues, however, circulation revenue continued to decrease.
28. Haymarket Media Group
Top news/information brands: 70 brands including What Car?, Campaign, Asian Investor
Total revenues: £147.7m
News/information/media revenues: £147.7m
Source: Full-year results to June 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £245m; News/information/media revenues: £245m
B2B publisher, data and events company Haymarket works in many verticals including healthcare, finance, automotive as well as content marketing. After a difficult 2020, the company’s finances bounced back in 2021 and in 2022 the company reported “its strongest year for more than a decade”.
29. Independent Television News (ITN)
Top news/information brands: ITV News, Channel 4 News, Channel 5 News
Total revenues: £164.4m
News/information/media revenues: £164.4m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £126.1m; News/information/media revenues: £126.1m
ITN makes news programmes for many of the UK’s major television networks and also operates ITN Productions, which creates content including films, documentaries, sports broadcasts and archive footage. The company also produces Channel 5’s morning debate and chat show Jeremy Vine. This year, ITN appointed its former news editor, Rachel Corp, as chief executive.
30. Euromonitor International
Top news/information brands: Passport, Via
Total revenues: £160.4m
News/information/media revenues: £160.4m
Source: Full-year results to March 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £148.1m; News/information/media revenues: £148.1m
Euromonitor is one of the world’s best-known market research firms with a global presence. It operates the market research database Passport and e-commerce intelligence platform Via. Customers can purchase reports on industries and geographies of interest to them.
31. Newsquest
Top news/information brands: Northern Echo, Lancashire Telegraph
Total revenues: £142m
News/information/media revenues: £142m
Source: Full-year results for 2021
Previous annual revenue: unchanged
Newsquest, owned by US publishing giant Gannett, is the second-biggest regional publisher in the UK after Reach. In 2022, Newsquest bought the country’s fourth biggest regional publisher Archant, bringing Archant titles such as the Eastern Daily Press, Norwich Evening News and Country Life into the Newsquest stable. The company has rolled out paywalls across several of its sites, reporting in 2022 that it had over 50,000 paying digital subscribers.
32. STV Group
Top news/information brands: STV Central, STV North, Ginger Productions
Total revenues: £137.8m
News/information/media revenues: £137.8m
Source: Full-year results to December 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £144.5m; News/information/media revenues: £144.5m
STV started as a broadcaster before also expanding into newspapers, advertising and radio. Today the Scottish media company provides TV broadcasts, video-on-demand and television production.
33. Hearst UK
Top news/information brands: Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Elle, Esquire, Country Living
Total revenues: £128.6m
News/information/media revenues: £128.6m
Source: Full-year results for 2021
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £115.9m; News/information/media revenues: £115.9m
Hearst UK’s parent company, the US-based National Magazine Company, reported a small pre-tax profit of £5m and a 14% increase in revenue in 2021 as the company, like many other media businesses, bounced back from the shock of the pandemic. According to the filing, the company benefitted from a growth in digital advertising and paid subscriptions.
34. Claverley Group
Top news/information brands: Express & Star, Shropshire Star, weekly magazines and lifestyle titles
Total revenues: £115.1m
News/information/media revenues: £115.1m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £91.8m; News/information/media revenues: £91.8m
Claverley Group owns the Midlands News Association (MNA), which publishes two dailies and 16 weekly titles in the Black Country and bills itself as the UK’s largest independent news publisher. Claverley Group, however, has a much wider business that also covers digital media, business-to-business media and events management, which is reflected in the revenue figure given here.
35. PA Media Group
Top news/information brands: PA Media, Alamy
Total revenues: £99.1m
News/information/media revenues: £99.1m
Source: Full-year results for 2021
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £90.1m; News/information/media revenues: £90.1m
UK national news agency PA is owned by national and regional newspaper publishers including DMGT, Reach and Informa. PA Media Group owns the stock photo agency Alamy.
36. Which?
Top news/information brands: which.co.uk, various magazines such as Which? Computer, Which? Travel and Which? Money
Total revenues: £85.3m
News/information/media revenues: £85.3m
Source: Full-year results to June 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £88.1m; News/information/media revenues: £88.1m
Consumer champion Which? is owned by the charity and limited company The Consumers Association. Its consumer protection advocacy and information work is funded through profits from commercial operations such as selling magazine subscriptions.
Note: News/information/media revenues include revenue for the company Which Ltd that provides most of the content on which.co.uk.
37. National World
Top news/information brands: National World, The Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post and various city sites under the World brand
Total revenues: £84.1m
News/information/media revenues: £84.1m
Source: Full-year results for 2021
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £86m; News/information/media revenues: £86m
David Montgomery’s National World bought JPI, the UK’s third biggest regional publisher, in 2021 for £10.2m. The company has since launched seven city websites under its own “World” brand and the national news website National World.
Since the acquisition, the company has cut its staff by 27% to 1,100, down from around 1,500 in January 2021. The company reported reduced revenue in the first six months of this year and hopes its new operating model – which it says includes “fully automated and integrated print, online and video brands” as well as the adoption of AI – will deliver savings of £2.5m of per year.
38. Ink Global
Top news/information brands: Business Traveller, various in-flight magazines, airport TV network
Total revenues: £69m ($80m)
News/information/media revenues: £69m ($80m)
Source: Full-year results to September 2022
Previous annual revenue: not known
Business slowed sharply during Covid-19 as the airline industry all but grounded to a halt. However, travel publisher Ink appears to have bounced back to $80m (£63m) a year turnover in 2022. The company, which in 2019 published 33 in-flight magazines for many of the world’s major airlines, is growing fast, having made a number of new investments. Since paring back its in-flight publishing business, the company has purchased Business Traveler USA and has expanded its airport TV network.
39. LBG Media
Top news/information brands: Ladbible, Unilad, Sportbible
Total revenues: £62.8m
News/information/media revenues: £62.8m
Source: Full-year results for 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £54.5m; News/information/media revenues: £54.5m
Manchester-based digital media and youth content publisher LBG Media reported a successful 2022. Turnover for the group, which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in December 2021, grew by 15% while pre-tax profit was up 10%. The company cited the expansion of its global audience and content views and growth in brand partnerships for its successes.
40. Mark Allen Group
Top news/information brands: HR, Print Week, The Optician, the British Journal of Nursing
Total revenues: £60m
News/information/media revenues: £60m
Source: Full-year results to March 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £43.7m; News/information/media revenues: £43.7m
B2B publishing stalwart Mark Allen Group continues to go from strength to strength having grown its revenue by 37% to £60m in 2022. The publisher’s more than 100 magazine and event brands cover industry verticals including aviation, health, technology, human resources and leisure. The company’s growth comes despite the fact its event business came to a standstill in the first half of 2021. At the end of 2019, MAG bought out the Farmers Weekly brand from Reed Business Information and continues to gradually grow its digital reach.
41. Wilmington
Top news/information brands: Compliance Week, Health Service Journal, Wilmington Healthcare
Total revenues: £121m
News/information/media revenues: £59.6m
Source: Full-year results to June 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £113m; News/information/media revenues: £56.8m
Wilmington provides information, data and training to companies and focuses on regulatory compliance. The company publishes the Health Service Journal, a news service that covers policy and management issues in NHS England.
Note: News/information/media revenues include revenue for the company’s information and data operations
42. Independent Digital News and Media
Top news/information brands: The Independent
Total revenues: £46.3m
News/information/media revenues: £46.3m
Source: Full-year results to October 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £41.1m; News/information/media revenues: £41.1m
Since going digital-only in 2016, the company has reported profits and growing revenue each year. Like the Guardian, The Independent in recent years has been increasingly looking to international markets and has launched editions overseas and in other languages including Spanish, Arabic, Urdu and Persian.
This year, the company achieved two longstanding targets having surpassed five million registered users and ensuring advertising no longer makes up the majority of revenue. Despite record revenue growth of 12% to £46.3m, operating profit was down 65% due to investment in areas such as e-commerce, Independent TV and the US.
43. Centaur Media
Top news/information brands: The Lawyer, Marketing Week, Design Week
Total revenues: £41.6m
News/information/media revenues: £41.6m
Source: Full-year results to December 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £39.1m; News/information/media revenues: £39.1m
B2B publishing and information house Centaur has simplified its portfolio in recent years and now consists of two divisions; Xeim, home to its marketing brands; and The Lawyer. In 2019, the company sold off a number of its finance brands, including Money Marketing to Metropolis Group and its engineering titles to the Mark Allen Group. The company said the return to in-person events, notably the Festival of Marketing and The Lawyer Awards, were big successes during the year.
44. On the Market
Top news/information brands: Onthemarket.com
Total revenues: £34.4m
News/information/media revenues: £34.4m
Source: Full-year results to January 2023
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £30.4m; News/information/media revenues: £30.4m
On the Market was set up in 2015 by a consortium of estate agents including Knight Frank and Savills as a direct competitor to industry leaders, Rightmove and Zoopla. Despite an uncertain market, the relative newcomer continues to turn a profit.
45. Hello Ltd
Top news/information brands: Hello
Total revenues: £28.8m
News/information/media revenues: £28.8m
Source: Full-year results to December 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £23.9m; News/information/media revenues: £23.9m
The UK version of the original Spanish magazine, Hola (the UK company is a subsidiary of its Spanish parent, Grupo Hola), Hello has long been a bastion for celebrity and royal news. Although Hello and Hola have strong print audiences, according to the company its two websites attract about 85 million unique users a month.
46. Evening Standard
Top news/information brands: The Evening Standard
Total revenues: £28.1m
News/information/media revenues: £28.1m
Source: Full-year results to October 2021
Previous annual revenue: unchanged
After being without a full-time editor since October 2021, the Evening Standard appointed Dylan Jones of GQ as editor-in-chief in May last year. Jones has since brought on another former GQ colleague, George Chesterton, as executive editor at the London title.
The Evening Standard became free to consumers in 2009 after being bought by Russian billionaire Evgeny Lebedev and his father, ending a 180-year history of paid circulation. Today the Evening Standard relies primarily on advertising for its revenue. The paper posted a sharp decline in profit and turnover in its latest results due to the decline in print advertising and Covid’s impact on commuter circulation. Results for 2022 have yet to be reported.
47. Merit Group
Top news/information brands: Politics Home, Dods Parliamentary Companion, The House, Civil Service World
Total revenues: £27.4m
News/information/media revenues: £27.4m
Source: Full-year results to March 2022
Previous annual revenue: unchanged
Another data and intelligence company on the list, Merit Group covers political, regulatory, and business data. Its Dods division publishes well-known political titles including Politics Home and the annual Dods Parliamentary Companion. Merit Data and Technology division largely serves UK-based customers with industry intelligence and marketing data.
48. City Wire Financial Publications
Top news/information brands: Wealth Manager, New Model Adviser, Funds Insider
Total revenues: £27.3m
News/information/media revenues: £27.3m
Source: Full-year results to December 2021
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £25.8m; News/information/media revenues: £25.8m
Headquartered in London, City Wire is a global company that provides, news, analysis and data to professional investors. The company also hosts events. Its brands include Wealth Manager magazine and website and New Model Adviser, which targets independent financial planners and advisers.
49. Time Out Group
Top news/information brands: Time Out, Time Out Market
Total revenues: £54.4m
News/information/media revenues: £26.5m
Source: Full-year results to June 2022
Previous annual revenue: Total revenues: £37.8m; News/information/media revenues: £25.6m
Time Out started life in the 1960s with a London magazine and has since grown to become a global media and entertainment company, publishing websites, magazines and guidebooks, as well as hosting live events and marketplaces. Last year, Time Out ended its London print edition after 54 years to focus on a digital-first model, a transition that it says it has completed this year. The company cited this as enabling its media division to “increasingly tap into the higher-margin, growing digital advertising space”.
Note: News/information/media revenues include revenue for Time Out Media
50. The Spectator
Top news/information brands: The Spectator, spectator.co.uk, Spectator World
Total revenues: £20.3m
News/information/media revenues: £20.3m
Source: Full-year results for 2021
Previous annual revenue: unchanged
Another ex-Frederick Barclay property (along with Telegraph Media Group), the weekly centre-right magazine The Spectator is also looking for a buyer, following its repossession by Lloyd’s Banking Group. The political, culture and current affairs title was edited by former prime minister Boris Johnson from 1999–2005. The Spectator also publishes an Australian edition, a US edition and website.
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